INDUSTRIOUS 


UNION  OFFICE 

SACRAMENTO 


THE 


bu-          AUniO 


SACRAMENT  O. 
JAMES  ANTHONY  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS,  21  J  STREET.  ^ 

1854. 


•2, 

: 


PREFACE. 


THE  pretensions  of  the  little  book  thus  given  to  the  public,  are 
humble.  The  designer  of  the  pictures  (Mr.  Nahl)  has  succeeded  in  a 
life-like  portrayal  of  scenes  in  the  mines ;  the  engraver  (Mr.  Armstrong) 
has  brought  his  drawings  out  in  masterly  relief ;  while  the  highest  boon 
\  claimed  by  the  author,  is  to  have  contributed  a  few  descriptive  verses 
with  a  moral — the  only  recommendation,  perhaps,  which  they  contain. 

Of  similar  publications  issued  from  the  press  of   California,  it  is 

I  questionable  whether  any  have  come  so  near  to  the  portrayal  of  actual 

mining  life  as  this.     There  are  but  two  courses  for  the  miner  to  pursue 

— one  of  industry  and  sobriety ;  the  other  of  indolence  and  vice.     These 

|  »  are  generally  shunned  or  indulged  according  to  the  early  education, 

natural  tastes,  or  degrees  of  temptation  by  which  the  miner  is  surrounded. 

Fortunate  is  he  whose  better  judgment  leads  him  to  an  emulation  of  the 

honesty  and  sedulous  devotion  which  are  represented  as  characterising 

the  triumphant  hero  of  this  little  poem. 


THE  IDLE  AND  INDUSTRIOUS  MINER. 

r<r  - 


WO  school-boy  friends,  with  buoyant  hearts, 

And  grown  to  man's  estate, 
Repaired  to  California's  shores, 

To  fill  their  cup  of  fate  : 
Endowed  with  noble  gifts  of  mind, 

And  vigorous  in  health, 
Their  future  seemed  a  harvest-field, 

Abundant  in  its  wealth. 
Lured  by  a  hope  of  rapid  gain, 

The  mines  at  once  they  sought, 
Contented  with  a  cabin  home, 

In  a  secluded  spot ; 
Their  start  in  life  was  equal,  and 

At  first  the  race  was  fair. 
But  soon  resembled  that  between 
The  TORTOISE  AND  THE  HARE. 


6 


THE    IDLE    AND    INDUSTRIOUS   MINER. 


1N  do  not  always  realize 

Their  cherished  dreams  of  youth, 
For  often  wormwood  lies  concealed 

Within  the  bud  of  truth. 
While  one  the  glittering  prize  plucks  down, 

Another's  reach  is  vain — 
Ambition  dies  within  him,  and 

He  never  tries  again. 
JTis  thus  our  story  takes  its  rise, 

To  trace  the  different  ends — 
The  efforts,  triumphs  and  mishaps 
Of  these  respective  friends ; — 
How  nobly  one  achieved  the  goal 

Of  fortune  and  renown, 
And  how  the  other's  sun  of  life 
In  clouds  of  shame  went  down, 


THE    IDLE    AND    INDUSTRIOUS    MINEH. 


ND  now,  behold !  at  early  dawn, 
||       Before  the  mists  have- fled, 
Our  zealous  hero  seeks  his  claim, 

Beside  a  river's  bed ; 
As  yet  unused  to  toil,  his  hands 

Are  cramped  and  numbed  with  pain, 
But  in  his  heart  an  honest  pride 

Forbids  him  to  complain. 
The  future  is  a  promised  world, 

In  which  his  fortune  lies, 
And  industry,  alone,  he  feels, 

Can  win  its  golden  prize. 
Already,  in  the  vale  below, 

He  hears  the  pick  and  spade, 
And  hastes  to  greet  the  busy  throng, 
And  join  their  delving  trade. 


THE    IDLE    AND    INDUSTRIOUS    MINER. 


',  there  should  be  a  converse  side 
To  such  a  pleasant  view, 
But  history  demands  the  pen 
To  frame  its  record  true. 
The  early  morn  had  come  and  gone, 

And  in  the  amber  sky 
The  sun  had  slowly  climbed  his  course 

And  stood  at  noonday  high. 
Nor  sun,  nor  moon,  nor  thoughts  of  fame 

Disturb  the  sluggard's  rest, 
Last  night's  debauch  has  left  its  sting, 

And  borne  away  their  zest. 
This,  then,  is  how  the  idler  friend 

Commenced  a  bad  career, 
So  fatally  and  madly  run 
Within  his  mining  year. 


IQUITEDtoil!  Eureka!  Look! 

And  read  within  those  eyes 
Their  speaking  luster,  as  they  dwell 

Upon  the  glittering  prize ! 
The  vein  is  struck  !  ah,  noble  heart ! 

A  thrill  of  joy  is  thine ! — 
A  purer  and  a  better  thrill 

Than  that  produced  by  wine. 
A  thousand  thoughts  of  home,  and  bliss 

Reserved  for  coming  years 
Have  swiftly  flashed  across  thy  soul 

And  melted  thee  to  tears — 
Tears — not  of  grief,  or  vain  regrets, 

For  thou  art  still  a  man — 
But,  thinking  of  thy  poverty 
And  gazing  in  the  pan ! 


THE    IDLE    AND    INDUSTRIOUS    MINER. 


RN  to  the  other  loitering  friend 

Yet  on  a  drunken  spree — 
His  tools  neglected,  and  his  face 

The  type  of  idiocy. 
The  bottle  is  his  chief  delight, 

No  care  disturbs  his  brain, 
He  smokes,  and  chews,  and  yawns,  and  drinks, 

And  wakes  and  drinks  again ; 
Or  when  he  leaves  his  cabin  walls 

To  dig  an  hour  or  so, 
111  luck  attends  him, — so  he  thinks, — 

Wherever  he  may  go. 
Forever  armed  with  some  excuse 

He  deems  his  cause  is  good, 
Till  want  assails  him  at  his  door 
And  drives  him  forth  for  food. 


THE  IDLE   AND   INDUSTRIOUS    MINER. 


11 


MBITTERED  at  his  low  estate- 
Unmindful  of  its  cause — 
The  sluggard  mopes  away  his  hours 

Indifferent  to  applause. 
His  noble  friend  appeals  to  him 

To  stimulate  his  pride, 
By  representing  wealth  to  flow 

On  fortune's  courted  tide  ; 
He  dilates  on  his  own  success, 

Then  offers  half  his  claim 
To  share  his  fellow's  wretchedness 

And  rescue  him  from  shame. 
Alas !  when  emulation  dies 

There's  no  Promethean  coal 
To  kindle  up  its  wasted  fires 
And  re-illume  the  soul ! 


12 


THE   IDLE    AND   INDUSTRIOUS   MINER. 


E  DEUM !  the  banking-house  is  sought ! 

For,  see,  the  well  filled  sack 
Our  zealous  hero  proudly  bears 

Upon  his  sturdy  back  ; 
A  hundred  envious  eyes  behold 

The  nature  of  his  gains — 
A  hundred  envious  hearts  desire 

The  gold  his  sack  contains ; 
But  once  secure  within  the  vault 

Where  Adams  holds  the  key 
Andf little  danger's  to  be  feared 

From  theft  or  treachery. 
A  draft  "at  three  per  cent,  relieves 

The  mind  of  every  care. 
And  when  remitted  safely  home 
The  drawer  knows  'tis  there ! 


THE   IDLE   AND   INDUSTRIOUS   MINER. 


1C 
t 


HAT  other  heart  could  feel  a  thrill 

Of  pleasure  more  sincere 
On  hearing  of  his  great  success 

Than  that  of  "  mother  dear ;  " 
So  down  the  thoughtful  miner  sits 

Elate  with  joy  to  write, 
His  tools  about  him,  and  his  u  stew  " 

Before  him,  full  in  sight. 
There's  not  a  hope  his  breast  contains — 

An  anguish  or  a  fear, 
But  memory  retains  to  break 

Unto  that  mother's  ear  ; 
He  told  her  all,  and  asked  her  prayers 

To  keep  his  heart  from  guile  : 
And  when  he  sweetly  slept  that  night 
His  face  revealed  a  smile. 


14 


THE   IDLE   AND   INDUSTRIOUS    MINER. 


!  woful  picture  of  distress  ! 

The  idler  takes  his  pen, 
His  ragged  coat  and  shaggy  beard 

Denote  him  worst  of  men ; 
But  there  is  still  within  his  soul 

A  principle  of  truth, 
Which  he  has  borne  unspotted  through 

His  days  of  well-trained  youth. 
"  Dear  mother  /"  this  is  what  he  writes, 
HBRK      And  saddened  by  the  word, 
He  feels  a  gush  of  tenderness 
Within  his  bosom  stirred ; 
With  too~much  power  it  racks  his  mind. 

And  from  the  bottle's  store 
He  turns  the  liquor  out,  and  drinks 
Till  he  can  write  no  more. 


THE    IDLE    AND    INDUSTRIOUS    MINER. 


ORN — Sabbath  morning !  at  his  door 

The  thoughtful  miner  sits, 
His  sister's  Bible  to  peruse 

As  such  a  morn  befits  ; 
The  birds  are  sporting  near  his  feet, 

Rich  flowers  are  by  his  side, 
And  as  he  reads,  his  heart  resolves 

That  God  shall  be  his  guide. 
He  goes  not  where  the  noisy  throng 

Resort  at  games  to  play, 
But  profits  by  a  goodly  work 

On  this,  a  goodly  day. 
As  twilight  falls,  his  evening  meal 

In  silence  he  partakes, 
And  soundly  sleeping  through  the  night 
Again  at  sunrise  wakes. 


THE   IDLE   AND   INDUSTRIOUS   MINER, 


EAR  MOTHER!  "  it  were  well  to  pause 

And  leave  the  page  unfilled 
Nor  tell  how  deep  in  vice  the  hand 
That  traced  the  line  was  skilled ! 
Amid  a  throng  of  curious  men 
That  Sabbath  night  it  tossed 
j  The  only  coin  the  idler  owned 

Upon  a  card,  which  lost. 
u  Make  way !  "  a  dealer  sternly  cries, 

Who  hauls  the  money  down ; 
"  Make  way ! "  the  second  one  repeats, 

And  hurls  an  angry  frown. 
A  dozen  hands  lent  willing  aid, 

And  backward  through  the  crowd 
They  drew  their  humbled  victim,  whom 
They  left  subbed  and  cowed. 


THE   IDLE    AND   INDUSTRIOUS   MINER. 


ill 


JANDS  OFF ! "  a  drunkard  grown  to  be, 

It  were  a  bootless  task 
To  drag  the  idler  from  the  bar 

While  it  contains  a  flask. 
His  truest  friend  exhorts  in  vain-^- 

In  vain  the  landlord's  threat, 
He  struggles  for  another  glass 

On  which  his  heart  is  set : 
In  pity  fill  a  bumper  up, 

To  quench  his  burning  thirst ! 
He  has  no  greater  joy  in  life, 
And  fate  may  do  its  worst. 
The  moon  shone  softly  down  that  night 

Where  stupefied  and  pale, 
A  senseless  man  deserted  lay 
Within  a  quiet  vale ! 


18 


THE   IDLE    AND    INDUSTRIOUS    MINER. 


L  Y,  thou  guilty  culprit,  fly  \ 
The  fatal  weapon  aimed 
Would  doom  thee  to  a  felon's  death, 

For  thou  art  thief  proclaimed  \ 
Fly  to  some  cavern,  where  with  wolves 

Thy  home  may  haply  be — 
Not  one  amid  the  mob  bestows 

A  kindly  thought  on  thec  I 
A  gallows  to  thy  maddened  brain 

Appears  in  frightful  view, 
And  to  avoid  its  frowning  form 

Seems  more  than  thou  canst  do. 
This  is  remorse — alas  \  too  late, 

For  months  of  wasted  time ; 
Before  thy  better  nature  changed 
And  thou  wert  steeped  in  crime  I 


THE  IDLE    AND    INDUSTRIOUS  MINER. 


19 


HROUGH  forest  and  on  road  pursued 

The  guilty  man  at  last 
Escapes  unhurt,  and  lays  him  down 

To  think  upon  the  past ; 
Oh,  God !  how  sorrowful  his  groans — 

How  bitter  flow  his  tears3 
When  recollection  paints  the  hues 

Of  boyhood's  brighter  years  ! 
Concealed  within  a  worn-out  claim, 

He  deems  himself  secure. 
And  finds  his  guilt  the  only  thing 

His  thoughts  cannot  endure. 
He  gazes  on  the  rattlesnake 

With  neither  dread  nor  care ; 
But  yields  himself  completely  up 
A  victim  to  despair. 


r     20 


I 


THE   IDLE   AND    INDUSTRIOUS    MINER. 


•ONG  hours  past — thrice  had  the  day 

Its  course  of  glory  sped, 
Yet,  on  that  wretched  man,  the  sun 

No  ray  of  comfort  shed. 
By  hunger  driven  forth  at  last, 
He  begged  a  crust  of  bread, 
But  found  the  hearts  of  those  he  asked 

To  all  his  pleadings  dead. 
"  My  God ! "  he  cried,  "  and  must  I  starve 

Where  Plenty  yields  her  store !  " 
And  seizing  on  a  tray  of  food 
Rushed  wildly  for  the  door. 
The  landlord  struck  him  with  a  knife 

Before  he  could  depart ; 
At  which  the  frenzied  culprit  turned 
And  stabbed  him  to  the  heart ! 


THE   IDLE   A1TD    INDUSTRIOUS   MINER. 


21 


CLOSED  within  a  prison's  walls 

Through  all  the  dreary  night 
A  madman's  frantic  cries  resound 
To  curd  the  blood  with  fright ; 
A  pack  of  prowling  wolves  have  caught 

The  rattling  of  his  chains, 
And  pause  to  mingle  with  the  sound 

Their  own  unearthly  strains ! 
Not  long  that  noble  frame  shall  writhe  ; 

Not  long  that  strength  be  shown ; 
For  death  is  smiling  through  the  bars, 

And  claims  them  for  his  own. 
E'en  while  those  startled  eye-balls  glare, 

The  heart  grows  icy  cold ; 
He  falls — what  else  concerns  his  fate 
Is  easy  to  be  told. 


THE   IDLE  AND    INDUSTRIOUS     MINER* 


OUND  the  felon's  corpse  there  stand 

Three  men  of  gentle  mem, 
By  whom  such  sights  as  these,  perhaps, 

Had  many  times  been  seen. 
The  earliest  and  fondest  friend 

Bends  o'er  it,  filled  with  grief: 
The  man  of  God  has  named  the  cross 

And  its  repentant  thief. 
To  die  from  home,  alas !  is  sad ; 

But  oh,  far  sadder  yet, 
To  feel  our  crimes  are  what  the  world 

Refuses  to  forget. 
Then  let  a  tear  of  pity  fall, 

Nor  curse  the  idler's  doom. 
He  was  a  miner — may  his  faults 
Lie  buried  in  his  tomb ! 


THE   IDLE   AND   1NDUSTHIOUS    MINER. 


lu 


:H !  holy  spectacle  of  love ! 

A  sister's  gentle  hand — 
A  pious  mother's  fond  embrace 
Are  what  its  joys  command ! 
The  long  lost  son  is  back  again 

From  California's  shore — 
The  brother's  ample  purse  is  filled 

With  pounds  of  shining  ore  ! 
He  brings  them  home  his  winning  smile — 

A  form  robust  and  strong — 
And  soul  unspotted  by  the  crimes 

Of  those  he  fell  among. 
He  tells  his  friends,  that  wish  to  know 

The  cause  of  his  success3 
That  those  who  seek  the  mines  must  work, 

AND  DRINK  AND  GAMBLE  LESS  I 


